Letters

Afghan end game

In your advance report of the prime minister's welcome decision to speed up withdrawal from Afghanistan (4,000 British troops to leave Afghanistan next year, 19 December), you comment that it "will fire the starting gun for other Nato countries also looking to leave". In fact, President Hollande of France has already carried out his undertaking to leave immediately, and the French troops remaining number only a few hundred. Germany has announced that it is accelerating its withdrawal and Australia is also leaving, currently down to about 1,000 men. The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, told parliament that the withdrawal plan is based on current UK military advice. That is not enough. The modalities of withdrawal are for the military, but the decision on withdrawal is for the government. It should not be timed to suit the Americans or the generals, but to avoid losing more British and Afghan lives in what has become a lost cause.Oliver MilesOxford